Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Teaching and serving in Texas

May 15, 2017

This week was a great week! Sister Humphries and I both will be staying for another transfer! This is longest I have ever been with a companion or in an area.

We Jennifer was baptized on Saturday! Her Baptism and confirmation was simple and beautiful. She was so happy! I am excited to continue to work with her and see how her testimony continues to grow. She has been able to recognize the many different blessings she has been receiving from her Heavenly Father. I know that when we make promises to follow our Savior and keep his commandments, we are blessed immensely. We are able to have peace and comfort no matter what our life circumstances are.

This week we also had the opportunity to teach Carrie before institute. During the lesson she asked, "How can I feel the Holy Ghost more in my life". It made me so happy to see that she desired to have the Spirit more in her life. We had a member with us there who is a convert of 10 years. She was able to help Carrrie see that as she continues to build a relationship with Christ, that she will be able to recognize how the Spirit speaks to her. Also, on Sunday she told us that she went to do baptism at the temple!

Bryan continues to progress as well! At institute on Wednesday we talked about Coming unto Christ. It was the last day of the Book of Mormon class, so we talked about the main invitation of the Book of Mormon- to come unto Christ. I find it amazing that my main purpose as a missionary is the same. One of the phrases in our purpose statement is that we "help others come unto Christ". I love being able to see the changes that Bryan has made in his life as he Comes unto Christ.

One of my favorite scriptures from the Book of Mormon is Jacob 1:7 "Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest". There is no greater joy than helping others come unto Christ. I know that as we work come unto Christ ourselves that we can help others to do the same.

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Olsen

Picture 1: our zone/ district picture. Everyone is staying!

Picture 2: Jennifer's baptism

Picture 3: we continue to serve at the Ranch. On of the perks is that they have a lot of different animals. This week they had a baby prairie dog.

May 22, 2017

Hello Everyone,

It was another great week! We had our first recent convert lesson with Jennifer and she is working towards doing baptisms for the dead in the Temple soon. It was amazing to see her be baptized last week. Now she can be baptized on behalf of her ancestors who have passed on. I look forward to hearing about how she feels when she goes to the temple. I know that she will be able to feel the same peace and happiness that she felt when she was baptized.

Bryan's baptism is this Saturday! We are going to be busy finishing planning the details and helping him be fully prepared for baptism.

We are always looking for new people to teach and to help receive all of the blessings that Heavenly Father has in store for him. This week we met a family outside their house. The parents were not very interested, but we supportive of us sharing a scripture with their daughters. After sharing the first scripture, they asked us to share another one. (I don't think I have ever had someone ask me that, so it was really sweet). The girls are really nice and the parents said that we could come back to teach them more about the Book of Mormon once school gets out. I look forward to seeing how we can them learn more about Christ and what he did for us through the Book of Mormon.

Being a missionary always gives me an opportunity to try things for the first time. This week, I washed horses for the first time. It was a lot of fun especially since it is starting to get hot again in Texas.

Hope y'all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Olsen

May 29, 2017

I hope y'all have a happy Memorial Day. We have had a great week! Ryan was baptized and confirmed this past weekend. We were busy preparing him this week and making sure all of the details were planned out. His baptism went really well. His family was there supporting him which was really great. At first he didn't know how supportive his family would be, so he waited to tell them that he was being baptized until a week ago. They are happy to see how the changes he has made in his life has made him happier. I hope that Ryan can continue to be a good example to his family.

This week I also went on exchanges with Sister Wells. This time I was able to go with her to her area in Canyon Lake. Canyon Lake is more out in the country, so it was nice to be able to work in a different type of area. It is also super pretty and has a lot of trees. We talked to this one lady who has Alzheimer's. She doesn't remember everything about the gospel even though she is a member. We told her that she could be sealed in the temple to her husband who has passed away. That way she could be with him again. It was as if she had heard it for the first time. She was visibly relieved and said, " You mean that God made it so I can be with my husband again". We assured her that when we are sealed in the temple we are married for all eternity. This experience made me remember how fortunate I am to have an eternal family.

This week I hit my 1 year mark as a missionary. It has definitely been the best year of my life so far. Not because it has been the easiest, but because I have learned so much. I have grown so much closer to My Heavenly Father and Savior. I have gained a greater understanding of the gospel and the blessings that come from living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that the things that I have learned and the experiences that I have had will shape the rest of my life.

Hope y'all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Olsen

Pictures 1: Us laughing at Bryan's baptism

Picture 2: exchanges

Picture 3 Canton Lake (Canyon Lake?)

June 5, 2017

Hi everyone!

It was been a great week filled with rain, thunderstorms, and a couple of new investigators!

We were able to have a lesson with two girls ages 13 and 10 on Saturday. Their mom says that she isn't interested in our message, but she is very supportive of her daughters. The girls so sweet and it is a fun opportunity to teach kids. It helps us to teach really simply. I love how the gospel is so simple and can be understood by everyone.

We were also able to have a recent convert lesson with Sienna. She has been busy since she just graduated from college. It is always so much fun to teach Sienna. We talked about Patriarchal Blessings ( blessings that are guidance from Heavenly Father). Sienna always loves to learn and goes home and studies more about what we talk about.

We have been learning a lot about what it means to minister to others. I have come to learn that each of us has a great influence to bless those around us. By serving people in simple, Christ like ways we can bring the Spirit more into their lives. I know that there are many people who are in our sphere of influence and are ready to accept the gospel. We can find them as we serve those around us.